A Game of Limbo: Inferno
A Game of Limbo: Inferno - Act 1 Prelude "I hate this job..." A sigh escaped the lips of 33 year-old Inner Circle gunman as he sat in the car, holding a hand on his bearded face. He propped his feet up on the dashboard, resting his other arm on the armrest. A lit cigarette was in his mouth, and a loaded Kidō rifle was resting in the back seat. "So far, it's been nothin' but hauling cargo and babysittin' it. I swear to the Soul King, I don't get paid enough for this shit." "What's the matter?" The driver, female and clearly of younger age, looked over at him to give him a slightly amused smirk. "You came with me, saying that you needed something to do other than sit at HQ all day. Don't start complaining now when we're about halfway through..." "Yeah, yeah..." Scoffing, the male turned his head to look out the window, his eyes taking in the sight of a black car identical to theirs. In fact, there were actually several of them on the road, driving like a wolf pack on the move. In the center of it was a massive semi-truck with a cargo box hooked to it. There were no other cars on the road other than that particular group as they trekked through the desert highway. "The only thing that's interesting to see is the setup we've got..." He said gruffly, folding his arms across his chest and turning his eyes away. "For a runt, our boss's sure got her shit coordinated." "Yeah?" The smile faded from the woman's face, and she turned to the road in front of her. "Well, glad we at least have some competent runts around here. Only problem is that there should be more of 'em." The man scoffed. "What? You want Inner Circle to start turning into some sort of daycare center?" He frowned slightly when he got a slight shrug in response. "No. But if there were more prodigies..." "Don't get your hopes up. She's an exception, as far as I'm concerned..." Off in the distant desert wilderness, a hooded figure stood atop a mid sized boulder, staring out into the cargo that was driving down the hardly occupied highway. The desert was blistering hot out there, wearing black certainly wouldn't be the best option for one in it. But this being seemed to pay it no mind. Out of his right coat sleeve shot out a small, black switchblade with several silver words inscribed on it neatly, saying "Slade" on it's right side blade. It suddenley began to glow with a black and blue aura, of which slowly began to engulf the man until it appeared to be a black and blue cocoon of energy. When it stopped, the being's cloaked and heavy attire was replaced with a black sweater and a torn, ragged black garb around his waist that extended down to his ankles, of which were connected to black boots that were shaped similar to monster feet. The interior of the garb was a dark blue, and a white and grey sash wrapped around his upper waist. The most notable change was his upper torso area, covered in a black bone like armor that wrapped around his back and extended down both of his arms. The switchblade was now a long claymore with a blue gem in it's hilt, the weapon hummed like an electric motor. The man looked at the convoy once more, his face revealing a gothic hairstyle that partially covered his left eye, while leaving his yellow right eye exposed. A scar went around his face and on down to his neck, with stitches that suggested possible experimentation on him. Smiling with a menacing aura, the being dissapeared with a bright blue light, presumidibly heading for the convoy ahead. "So..." In the car, the man propped his legs down and looked at his female comrade with an expression of boredom. "How long do you think until we reach the border?" He questioned, frowning lopsidedly and moving the cigarette idly in his mouth. "At this time?" The woman took a hand off of the steering wheel in order to check her watch. "At the very best, half an hour. Better than several days, but not soon enough..." She let out a heavy sigh, her own eyes looking weary of the driving she was doing. "No kidding..." The man grumbled, closing his eyes and folding his hands behind his head. "We need something to happen right about now." His wish would soon be granted. Nearly 40 meters in front of the first car, the being reappeared, just slap in the middle of the road. Slowly, he grabbed his claymore with both hands, the weapon beginning to bristle with violet electricity and the tip of the blade facing the ground. Still smiling as he looked at the convoy headed straight for him, he stabbed the weapon into the ground, the vicinity around him beginning to bristle with the same colored electricity. C....CRRRRAAAAAAK!!!!!!!!!!! Suddenley, the road began to crack and shake, a rather large crack began going down the road towards the convoy. Though it was not near as wide as the road itself, the crack was potent and deadly enough to potentially derail the group of cars that were unfortunate enough to be in it's way. Needless to say, none of them had been expecting it. The female's and male's eyes widened in shock and horror as she saw the ground split apart, wide enough to consume the width of even the massive truck barreling straight towards it. Underneath the shaking of the ground, her car as well as the others were swerving violently, starting to lose control on the uneven train. "Oh, shi-- turn the car!!" The male yelled. With a grunt, the female quickly swerved the wheel to the left just in time. Her teeth was gritted, and her heart was racing madly in her chest. The man himself had to buckle his seat belt with haste, for fear that he would be jolted through the window if their vehicle kept up. The majority of the cars, as well as the truck itself managed to pull of the road just in time before the gap in the earth could swallow any of them. However, it was here that they would all find themselves in the same situation. Because of the shaking, they found their vehicles out of control. Some performed reckless donuts in the sands before coming to a stop. Others were dangerously close to flipping before they collided with cacti and bushes that stopped their own vehicles. Within a single move, the convoy had been forcefully dissolved, and the vehicles were scattered across the area. "Such beautiful chaos...." the being whispered as he watched the convoy be swayed from it's objective. The female breathed heavily, looking over at an equally panting man. "You all right, Laptev?" "I've got all my limbs with me..." The man grumbled, quickly unbuckling his seat belt. "What in the hell was that?!" He grabbed the handle of the car door, pushing it open and quickly stepping out. His female compatriot was quick to follow suit. "Don't know, but I hope this fall-out deterred it from making any more moves..." She said tersely, reaching back into the car before pulling out a side-arm. "I came here for an escort mission, not a gun battle!" In the distance, the occupants of the other vehicles were coming out of their cars, armed to the teeth with rifles, shotguns, and pistols in order to kill the one that dared to disrupt their path in such a manner. The being then pulled his sword out of the ground, looking into the oncoming opponents with a menacing grin. EEOOWW!!!! With another bright blue flash, the being disappeared from their initial view, reappearing high above the group in the sky. He then swung his blade around him once, letting it be consumed with black and blue energy before slinging the edge of the weapon towards the hostile group. Out of the slash emerged a black and blue crescent wave of energy that soared down towards them. It would slam into the group and potentially produce a large enough explosion to kill them all if they weren't careful. "Above you!!" "Look out!!" "SCATTER!!!" Laptev screamed out the last word, his feet already taking him far away from the explosion. His female compatriot followed suit, running as fast as she could. In the other direction, she could hear gunfire going off, obviously in the direction of the man that had attacked them. However, they didn't bother to check to see if any of them were connecting with their target, focused on running away from the explosion. However, they wouldn't make it in time. BOOM! The shockwave hit their backs, and the female found herself yelling as she was thrown away from Laptev's direction. She flew threw the air for a moment, her eyes dilated and her heart stopping almost immediately. When she hit the ground, she smacked her head into the sand. Everything went black for a moment. But it wasn't long before she could open her eyes back up to the world around her. "Damn it..." She groaned, her free hand clutching her head while her pistol hand propped her on her knees. She could feel blood, obviously from a head wound. She clenched her teeth in pain, having to steady herself before raising her head up completely. Her blurry vision looked around, everything completely hazy. "Laptev?! Where are you?!" She called out into the distance, hoping that he would answer. The being, still grinning almost feral like, propelled himself towards the ground, and then landing with a loud boom noise. He slowly stood himself up, his grin replaced with a more solemn frown as he began to walk casually towards any survivors of his last attack. He glanced over to the flipped over truck, carrying whatever precious cargo the group was protecting. He casually pointed his sword at the truck's engine, the blade bristling with violet electricity that eventually shot out into the truck engine. The targeted spot began to bristle with the same electric aura as the weapon did, before... CRRAAACKBOOOM!!!!!!! The engine then exploded, completley destroying the front of the truck and setting it's cargo ablaze. "Oops." the being said lowly, grinning once more as he continued to look for any survivors. "Sweet Jesus!!" The girl finally heard Laptev's voice, as well as his footsteps quickly running towards her. She could raise her head up no more, letting it fall back down to the ground. She felt an arm wrap around her waist, and she hooked an arm around his shoulders in order to allowed herself to be pulled up. "L-Laptev..." She groaned. "I...think I... might have gotten a concussion..." "Hang in there, Cassie, you're gonna be just fine..." Laptev answered tersely, looking out into the horizon. "Wish I can say the same for the cargo, though. Bastard just set the shit on fire..." "What?!" Cassie's voice came out in a shriek, and she instinctively jerked her head up. However, she let out a moan of pain when it shot through her head once again, forcing her to lower it down. "D..damn it... we were supposed to have that delivered within the hour... shit, shit, shit, shit, shit!!" "Woah, take it easy!" Laptev insisted. "Just keep calm. This is a reasonable excuse. Who the hell would've expected this kind of interference, after all?" He raised his head up, his ears perking at the sound of repeated gunfire. "And by this moment, I'm sure the son of a bitch who's responsible's eatin' nothing but lead right now..." If only that were so. The being was no fool. He knew that he wouldn't last much longer under repeated gunfire. Cheteew! Cheteew! Cheteew! Moving with incredible rates of speed, the man deflected three oncoming Kido bolts with his sword, several others hitting the bone like material on his clothing, which was proven to act as an armor of sorts as they did no visible damage to him. Whoosh! He quickly dissappeared in another quick flash of blue light, reappearing behind a nearby bolder. He held his chin with his left hand in a thinking pose. "Let's see...." he began, speaking lowly to himself. "...what could I possibly do to invoke further commotion....?" His eyes became menacing as a thought popped into his head. His powers relied heavily on the aspect of chaos and calamity. He could send another trail of lightning at his foes and rupture their guns to where they would potentially backfire on their user. But if he did that, he wouldn't be able to hit all of them, and he could only do it once. "Worth a shot." He then popped out of the rock space and let loose another trail of lightning at the weapons of his enemies before quickly hopping back into cover. The lightning would do just as he pleased, if it hit them of course. Because of their scattered positions, most of the gunmen got away unharmed. However, others weren't so lucky. BOOM! "AAAAGH!" "MY HAND! SOMEONE HELP ME~!!" A few had their weapons blow up in their faces, causing appropriate damage to the ones that had been firing. However, this did not stop the majority from advancing, seeing that he had taken cover and finding it the perfect opportunity to take him out. They continued to unleash suppressing fire on his position, relentless like wolves chasing down their prey. "Well some help that did." the being scoffed, still behind cover in a casual stance, as if he didn't even acknowledge the oncoming gunfire. He was now running out of options, but he didn't seem to care, in fact it looked like he was enjoying the challenge. "Figure I'll have to do the boring thing." Letting his weapon become enveloped with his trademark black and blue energy, the man quickly swung himself around and unleashed another wide are of energy towards the group, aiming to shield himself from the oncoming bolts while quickly evading to better cover at the same time. Traditionally, the gunners leaped out of the way and took to the ground in order to avoid being hit, having to stop their fire immediately in order to do so. They quickly got up from the ground, some reloading their guns. However, as they looked around, they could not see their target. "Lost visual of the target..." One reported, using his vision to sweep the area while keeping his gun aimed at shoulder position. "Identification?" Another asked. "Fullbringer. Damn it, it's times like these that we need a sniper in the cliffside!" "Keep yourselves on the alert. Engage on sight. I'll have to inform the boss about this personally..." While keeping his gun pointed in the air, the guard that had finished speaking, pulled out his cell-phone and started dialing a number. He wouldn't get to finish his call. Whoosh! Using the now confirmed method of Bringer Light, the Fullbringer quickly appeared behind the officer and thrusted his sword towards the man's upper back area, aiming to kill him with one quick move and then use his backup plan to possibly thwart his squad's predictable reaction. "BOSS, LOOK OU--" However, such a provocation was unneeded, as the officer was completely aware of what was attacking him and what to do. He, as well as his soldiers, were not the simple common gunman that could be found in the midst of street gangs. They were hardened soldiers, all experienced with combat. They could easily catch on to a ploy when they wanted to. The officer wouldn't get to finish his call. But he would get to live. With a crossing of his arms at the wrists, he dropped his cell and rifle in order to forcefully parry the Fullbringer's attack by his own wrist. Then, he folded his hands together, grasping the offending wrist. With one of his legs, he delivered a swift kick to the ribs, one that sent a spike of annoying pain through his knee. However, the force sent the Fullbringer flying a considerable distance away from him. A scowl crossed the officer's face as he lowered his leg, his men quickly resuming gunfire at their target once more. "Looks like I've got some fighters here." the Fullbringer said aloud, grinning in a sadistic and cruel way as he regained his footing. Truthfully, he was surprised by the officer's own power. It looked like he had underestimated the group. But they may have underestimated him. Using another quick Bringer Light, the Fullbringer avoided the onslaught of gunfire and reappeared just in front of the officer, unleashing a flurry of fast and powerful strikes with his claymore, intending to overwhelm the man and take the group's only leadership straight to hell. "Stubborn little shit...!!" By then, the boss had kicked up his assault rifle and was holding it at the hip, his knees bent. The barrel was pointed straight at the Fullbringer as he Lit his way in front of him. In an instant, he pulled the trigger, unleashing heavy fire on him. Because of his own muzzle flashes, he could only assume that at the point-blank range his target was at, it would be doing some damage. However, he would never get to see for himself. CLANG! The first two strikes he managed to parry with his assault rifle. However, the third one... SLICE! His eyes widened in shock when the claymore sliced through his torso, spilling his blood onto the sands. He dropped like a fly, his weapon clattering beside him. The rest of the Inner Circle gunmen started to falter immediately upon seeing their leader fall. "Shit! He got Jack!" "Retreat! Fall back! Now!" "Where to?!" "Anywhere!! Just far from here!!" With that being said, the troops decided to fall back, running down the road they had came from while providing cover fire to keep the Fullbringer at bay. They were tough soldiers. But the death of their leader meant that they had no direction, and that led to only one route: backward. The Fullbringer looked down at the fallen soldier with a blank expression. One of the officer's rounds had managed to go into his shoulder, blood running down his arm. "Good work there "Jack"" the man calmly stated, walking past the fallen man and towards Cassie and Laptev, whistling casually and resting his bloodied sword on his right shoulder. "Oh, shit..." Laptev let out a grunt and took a step back once he saw the distant figure approach. His eyes narrowed slightly, and he gritted his teeth. He gripped the waist of Cassie tightly, making sure she didn't let go of him. "Ey, Cassie?" He muttered. "Don't look now, but our little friend's approaching us." Despite the fact that a tearing pain shot through her head again, Cassie immediately snapped to attention. She jerked her pistol at him, trying desperately to peer through her hazy vision in order to get a good lock on him. Her hand trembled violently, and she couldn't maintain a straight line-up with her target. "S...stay back... stay back, damn it!!" She snarled. "Don't take another step, or I'll shoot!!" The Fullbringer let his feral grin return as he heard her words, pointing his sword down at her as he stopped in his tracks. A small crackle of electricity shot out from the tip of the sword and towards her gun. Instead of backfiring the weapon, the firing mechanism wouldn't work on the weapon. Something like that, considering they had no other way of defending themselves, would potentially send any normal person into a panic, and when someone panics, there is chaos, something he had control over. "Still think you can shoot there slick?" he said casually, still pointing his sword at the two of them in case they made another move on him. Click! The response given to him by her was an attempt to fire her gun. However, because of what the man did, all she got in response was clicks of the trigger. She stared at the gun for a moment in bewilderment, before gritting her teeth and narrowing her eyes. With an angry, frustrated snarl, she threw the useless weapon the ground and hung her head back down, the agony becoming too much to bear. "So not in the mood for this bullshit...!!" She said bitterly, returning her hand to clutching her forehead. Laptev took in a deep breath, looking over the man with tense, yet contained eyes. "Well, boy?" He said gruffly. "Aren't you going to strike us down? I was getting the impression you were here to kill us all." The Fullbringer simply rested his weapon over his shoulder once more, knowing now that the two of them posed no real threat to him anymore. His face was now casual, with a slight smirk as he moved his hair out of his right eye's path. "Kill you? Nah, killing the wounded and defenseless isn't my style." he began, glancing over to the destroyed convoy. "I came simply to cause a little havoc and screw up somebody's life. Wandering around the desert for hours on foot tends to leave one wishing for a little action." Laptev gritted his teeth slightly upon hearing the words, clearly not pleased with what he heard. "You mean to tell me..." He said, in slight disgust. "...that you just came here and destroyed our cargo for the hell of it?!" The man grinned with humor, as if he enjoyed Laptev's reaction. "Yep. It's what I do..." He then moved his hair to cover his right eye, revealing his left one, which was red in color and disturbingly feminine in comparison to his right masculine one. The red eye began to glow slightly and several small, synthetic appearing circles were spinning around in it's iris. "And I suppose you're....going to try to do something about that?" He really wanted to. He really wanted nothing more than to punch the smile right off the boy's face. He wanted to break every bone in his body and then shoot him for good measure. However, that proved to be impossible. At the power level he was at, he would have better luck being crushed like a bug. But what else was there to do? They couldn't run. They were sitting ducks waiting to get shot at. So he remained silent. They both did, knowing that death was inevitable. The Fullbringer looked the two of them for a few more seconds, still pointing his bloodied weapon at the two of them as if he was going to lunge at any second.... "Bye." Whoosh! And just like that, using another Bringer Light, the man dissapeared from view. The only traces of his prescence being the destroyed convoy and the devestated road he had previously attacked. He was gone. "He...he's gone...!!" Laptev's shocked statement caused Cassie to slowly bring her head up, breathing heavily and in an agonized manner. "L-laptev...please..." She moaned, the splitting headache reaching its limit. "Too...h-hot... call... for a p-pick up..." That immediately snapped his attention to her, and he realized that her condition had been ignored for the past several minutes. "Hey, easy..." He whispered, calming his voice down as well as trying to soothe her. "You're gonna be all right, okay? Just stick with me..." He looked around for a brief moment, before reaching into his pocket with one of his hands to pick up his own cell phone. "Think you can handle being carried for a little while?" "A-anything...t-get me... out...heat..." "Gotcha..." The man bent over, sweeping her up in his arms while keeping his phone in one hand. He had to admit, from this angle, she looked more fragile than anything else. Sweat was falling down her face and mixing with the blood, and she was clearly uncomfortable with the settings. He wasn't fairing too well, either, what with the sun's heat bearing down relentlessly on him as well. He had to act fast. With a swift dialing of the numbers, he waited until he heard the sound of the caller pick up. Then, he allowed himself to speak, walking with Cassie in his arms. "Boss? We may have a problem." ---- "Oh darn it..." It was nearly 4 hours after that incident. In the busy streets of Tokyo, a lone girl with a black hooded robe walked along one of it's busy evening sidewalks. Around her neck was a golden chain necklace with a single silver key hanging at it's center. In both of her hands was a small, hand drawn map of the section of the city that she was in. She identified the right street for her destination, of which was marked with an "X", but she didn't know what the X actually was. "Let's see...." she said, peering into the small map while only glancing ahead of her from time to time to make sure she didn't bump into anyone, which she was failing to do miserably. "...he said that it was a bar of some sort....*''bump* Oh! Excuse me! Now....I don't see a bar anywhere around here...." Sure enough, no such establishment was in sight, at least not one that a person could see from sight alone. There were so many lights and shining things around her that it was impossible to tell house from buisness. What would she do? "Hmm......Aha!" she suddenley yelled out, only grabbing slight attention from other bystanders. She could see the destination based on the bar table inside. At least she hoped that she was right. Using three taller, older people in front of her, the girl managed to sneak through into the bar unnoticed, even by the decoys that she used. She was only 17 after all, there's no way that any ordinary bar would let her in. "Um...excuse me?" she began, speaking to any random person that she could see. "Excuse me? Have you seen a...no? Okay...um, hey excuse me? Have you seen someone called Jaden Ryugamine?" "Beat it kid." "Scram." "Aren't you a little young to be in a bar?" So far, no one seemed to be willing to help her. The man she was looking for was supposidly one that could offer her a job of sorts. She had been wondering around the city for days looking for an employment opprotunity, but no one seemed to hire her. But she was told by a reliable source that this Ryugamine figure could help her. "Hey you!" Suddenley, a voice shot out low enough to where the girl could hear it. Turning in it's direction, she could see a young man sitting in a booth allegedly by himself. It looked like someone was sitting in the seat ahead of him, but she couldn't tell for sure. "Y-Yes?" she said hesitantly as she walked closer to the booth. "Can I...can I help you?" The man had a strange afro styled hair with a read coat of sorts with a white shirt and cargo shorts, along with wooden sandles on his feet. He had a single beer in his hand, and his face gave an expression of slight annoyance. "You're kinda young to be in a place like this, don't you think?" he said, resting one of his arms on the back of his booth while looking at her with his same expression. "I...I'm looking for someone....called Jaden Ryugamine." she said, biting her lower lip. Clearly she wasn't the kind of person who liked to socialize. "Who wants to know?" he replied plainly, getting another drink. "Oh!" she said out surprised like, dropping her homemade map without paying it any mind. "I've been looking for you! My name is Horo Ko, someone told me that you may have a job placement for someone like me?" "Who the hell told you that?" he asked coldly. Clearly he wasn't amused by her prescence. "Um....his name was.....let's see.....aha! His name was Akira Uchiwa!" she said aloud. "Uchiwa?" he said, before tilting his head to the left and groaning with annoyance. "Man...that guy is always pointing runts in my direction. Why can't he just leave me alone for once?" "Maybe it's because he has an attraction towards you and has difficulty telling it directly?" A young woman's voice came from beside him, the source of the voice sitting right beside him and having turned to face the girl while her crimson eyes were focused on him. "GAH! Are you crazy!? There's no way I would go for a guy like him! Or a guy period!" Jaden comically yelled out, raising a fist up in emphasis. "The guy is always trying to "help" others, and by help, he means sending them to me for jobs. That's pretty freaking annoying after a while." The girl shrugged, taking a sip of the drink she had. "Just suggesting..." She said coolly, lapsing into silence afterwards in order to let them speak again. "So...." Ko began again, still slightly nervous. "...what kind of services to you specialize in...?" "Not for me to decide." Jaden said plainly, looking out of the window. "That's up to boss ma'am, but I doubt she'd let a runt like you into the buisness." The girl's expression became slightly desperate. "P-Please!" she said slightly louder. "I've been looking for work for years now and no one will hire me! Please! You're my only chance! I'll do whatever you and your boss need me to do!" Jaden looked back at the girl at first with more annoyance. "Look kid, I said bug off. There's no way-" But suddenley, he could feel an odd sense of great spiritual power within the girl's soul, close to being higher than that of his own. How could this be he wondered? Was she even human? If so, would his boss approve? He let out an annoyed sigh before looking over to Kameyo, expecting her to have felt the energy as well. "What do you think? Should we give her a shot?" Kameyo's eyes shifted to the form of the girl for a moment, obviously having felt the spiritual energy. However, she showed virtually no outward reaction to it, a curious and almost calculative stale in her direction. For a brief, tense moment, she did not allow herself to speak and only stare. But it was soon at she broke away from it, turning to look at Jaden once again. "Her energy seems quite competent." She said simply. "And she does seem quite willing to join...." Jaden let out a defeated sigh, looking forward ahead of him while finishing the glass in his hand. "Well the boss usually trusts your word better than mine. I guess we can give her a chance. "Really?!" the girl almost screamed, but quickly went back to a more composed tone. "Really? Do you think I can?" "Don't get your hopes up kid." the man scofffed, leaning back once more and closing his eyes, giving a slight matter-of-fact voice and expression. "The kind of work we do isn't pretty, and the training to just get to the job is often worse than the labor itself..." His eyes then became cool and half lidded as he looked at her once more. "You'll probably want to quit before you even get considered for the job, if you don't end up dead first...." "The training simulates the perfect representation of the potential situation of war if we ever get into confrontations..." The woman added, closing her eyes. "It is quite intense. At least 70 percent of the recruits fail or end up dying as a result." At this, the young girl swallowed, making a comically fearful gulping sound as she contemplated what they had just said. ''"Darn it Akira-san! Were you trying to get me killed?! You'd better be lucky you're cute or I'd hunt you down and beat you to death!!!" Silence. She was too lost in thought at what the people had told her to speak on time. "Yo." Jaden said, putting his hand in front of her face and letting his finger's make a loud snapping noise. It effectively knocked her out of her trance and back to their attention. "I...I can handle it. I'll do whatever is required of me." she said plainly. "Huh. Normally by this time I would've expected you to run away, but you seem willing...." Jaden then motioned Kameyo to get out of the booth so that they could leave. "Alright then, if we're going to do this we may as well start while there's still some sun up..." Of course, Kameyo oblidged, allowing herself to rise to her two feet. She folded her arms across her chest, her red eyes looking over at him expectantly. "At the very least, I hope Brina-sensei is not too concerned of our absence..." She said coolly, turning her gaze away from him once again. "Brina? Concerned? Bah. She knows we can handle ourselves. Who knows? Maybe she'll be happy to have a new recruit." he replied. They all three then began to leave the bar, heading for wherever their base of operations would be. New Faces, Welcome to the Family! The base spoken of earlier was a large penthouse, at the top of one of, but not the highest buildings in the city. By the time the trio had reached it, night had begun to fall upon the land, the orange sun dimming and letting the lights of the city shine brighter. They all three entered the elevator, of which was big enough to hold at least 8 people at once. Ko stood in front of the door, not wanting to appear lazy or careless in front of the other two people. Jaden leaned against one of the inner rails, looking up at the ceiling briefly before looking over to Kameyo, almost as if he didn't even acknowledge Ko's existance. "I know I've probably said this before, but the boss certainly knows how to pick an HQ, huh?" "The Inner Circle's funds allow for this..." Kameyo said plainly, using her eyes to sweep the area around them for a moment before shifting her gaze to the door that would lead to their boss's room. "So it would be natural for her to pick such a decorated and fashioned area." She raised a fist up, gently rapping on the door. "Boss? We've arrived, just like you asked..." The response was immediate, coming in the form of muffled voices. "Ah! No!" A sigh from a female voice. "Tenshina-kun, would you mind getting that for me? I'm so close to beating this boss!" "Yeah, yeah..." Shuffling footsteps came closer and closer to the door, before it opened up to reveal the figure of a young man with a deadpan expression on his face. However, when his eyes fell on his comrades, they widened slightly. "Oh... Kameyo? Jaden? We weren't expecting you for at least a few hours..." He commented, not yet noticing the presence of Ko. Jaden sighed slightly. "Hey Tenshina. We got a little....sidetracked." he said lowly, glancing down at Ko, who was looking up at Tenshina with a polite smile, though inwardly she was nervous as to what the man would think/say to her. This, however, made Tenshina's eyes narrow a little, and he drifted his gaze towards his two comrades. "Oi..." He grumbled, a vein popping in his cheek. "I donno what's the idea here or how you roped Kameyo into this. But while we may be running against the law and all, even we have standards. Don't start attempting to bring women with you every time you come back." This caused Jaden's face to enter a comical deadpan one, slapping a hand to his face as he spoke lowly. "Man. Why do you guys always assume that I'm bringing some chick here to have fun with, huh? I swear, ever since that little "incident" in Osaka you guys always assume I'm out with some chick getting shit done...." A large and comical sweatdrop appeared on the back of Ko's head. What in the world had she gotten herself into? "She's a hopeful." Kameyo stated coolly, closing her eyes and keeping her composure. "Someone who apparently wished to join the Inner Circle and become apart of our society. Where is Dragon-sama?" Snapping out of his own comical haze, Tenshina pointed a thumb behind him. "See for yourself." In the relatively large room that they were in, a brown-haired girl in a black cloak was sitting Indian-style in front of a TV as well as a gaming console. The sounds of buttons being pressed rapidly could be heard, and the images belonging to the game "Battlefield 3". Obviously, she was focused more on the game rather than the people that were at her door. Jaden instinctively walked inside and leaned on the back of the long couch just behind the sitting woman, looking at the game screen in front of her. "No no no, you're not supposed to stay in the same spot. That car you're supposed to hit is going to the right of the building." he said, trying to tell her what her objective was on one of the levels of the game's campaign. "What~?" The girl gave a low whine, but moved the control buttons in order to move the character towards the designated spot. "Give me a break! I was sure that's where I was supposed to go! This one puts me on such a time limit, too!" The man chuckled slightly. "He clearly has a little red light on the top of him, indicating he's the target- QUICK! Shoot the gas station!!!!" he suddenly said aloud, pointing at a gas station that her target was passing. "Don't tell me what to do!!" The girl huffed, aiming the gun over towards said gas station in a timely and quick manner before pulling the trigger. "I'm your boss, after all!" BOOM! However, her mood instantly lightened when she saw the brilliant and graphically beautiful execution of the explosion on the screen. "Whoo!" She cheered, taking one hand off of the controller in order to pump a fist in the air. "Sucker went bai-bai~!!" Clearly, she was having a blast with the game, and judging from her reactions, it was a first-time deal. "...yeah..." Tenshina's eye twitched, and he folded his arms across his chest as Kameyo came into the room herself, but not before making a gesture for Ko to come in as well. "Don't introduce the girl who you brought here to the boss. Just sit down and make yourself comfortable..." "Hm?" The boss immediately snapped her head over to the girl, tossing the controller over to Jaden so that he could play in her place and she could focus her attention onto other things. She slowly brought herself to a standing position. "Who's your friend?" She questioned coolly, tilting her head to the side and putting her hands in her pockets. Jaden caught the controller with one hand and hopped over the couch and landed in it's middle, leaning over and playing the game while listening to the conversation behind him. "Another newb that Akira Uchiwa sent our way. I swear I think he's trying to make us implode with all the new people he keeps pointing towards us." Ko herself slowly followed Kameyo after the latter made the motion, and she soon stood within plain view of the leader. "H...Hello...Ms....um...what was she called...? Oh! Ms Dragon Sama." she said, her tone riddled with hesitation and nervousness. "My name is...Horo Ko...but you can call me Ko if you wish...." "New person, huh...?" If there was any acknowledgement the boss was giving the impression of showing to Ko, it was disregarded with the next movement made. She placed a hand on the girl's head - and it seemed that despite her squinted eyes and kind smile, a dark and murderous aura could be felt coming from her person. Tenshina's expression contorted to one of slight nervousness, and he suddenly found the urge to bolt of the room very, very tempting. "That's good. New blood doesn't come as daily as it does recently..." The boss whispered, her tone carrying a darkly amused tone within it. "Hopefully, this one won't be so quick to back out as most of the failures. But in either case..." Her tongue stuck out, the tip tracing the top of her lips in a slow, deliberate, and clearly sadistic manner. "I'm going to enjoy purging every bit of weakness from your body, Kō-chan..." Needless to say, Ko was absolutley terrified. The aura radiating from the woman was completely different from the initial impression that she got when she walked in the room. She could have sworn that she was a kind and free spirited woman that would be easy to get along with, based on how she reacted while playing her game, but now...now the woman felt like nothing more than a heartless killer! She was beginning to wish that she had never walked into that bar. She wished that she just kept walking down the sidewalk and finding a nice little street alley to sleep in for the night. But now....now there was no turning back. She gulped slightly, and retained her polite tone, though one could tell that it was shaky and fearful. "Y-Y-Yes ma'am! I understand!" Jaden himself paused at the feeling his leader gave off, even gulping in a slight hint of fear. He was honestly starting to wish that he didn't bring Ko with him. She would probably be better off freezing in the night wind than being in the same prescence of Brina! "Good!" The aura abruptly faded, and so did the sadist look. Within a snap of the fingers, she had reverted back into her cheery self. "Now, before any of that happens, would you care to go to the kitchen next room to get us some snacks? It's tradition for the experienced to push most of the work on the newbie so that they can get used to working very hard." Tenshina abruptly snapped out of his fear, an anime vein popping once again on his cheek as he shut the door behind him. "Don't lie, you idiot." He said bluntly, a slightly annoyed tone in his voice. "You're just saying that just to be sadistic! Don't try and slack off!" Ko's eyes became big, wide, and solid white with thick black outlines. What in the world just happened?! Her head was starting to hurt, but she shook it off real quick and gave the elder a cheery expression as well. "Of-Of course ma'am! Is there anything in particular that you would want?" With that, Jaden quickly resumed his thoughts on the game, almost as if his reaction to Brina's fearful aura was routine. Out of the hallway leading to the bedrooms, a young man with blonde hair and a black t-shirt with white jogging shorts walked out into the living room. He was looking rather pale and slumped over, a comical nose drool protruding from his nose as if he had just awakened from a cold. "What's with all the noise...?" he said tired like. "Well looks like little Levi finally woke up." Jaden said without looking at him. "What happened to you?" Tenshina quirked an eyebrow, frowning and folding his arms across his chest. "You look like you just stepped out from flu season." Brina kept her attention to Kō, ignoring both Tenshina co. for the time being. "Tenshina-kun and I would prefer tea." She said automatically, naturally knowing the young man wouldn't protest against it. Then, she turned her head to Jaden and Levi. "As for you two boys, what would you prefer?" "I think I am catching the flu, brosef..." the boy said lowly, slowly stumbling over to the other couch next to the sofa and falling on it, laying his head and feet on it's armrests. "I think I want a cure for whatever it is I have." he said, in other words meaning he didn't want anything. "I just drank alot so I'm good." Jaden replied, his mind still set on his game. "As you wish..." Slowly, Ko made her way to the kitchen, preparing to get two glasses of tea for the two of them. She stopped when she glanced over to Kameyo. "Would you like something as well, Kameyo-san?" "Water would be goo--" Kameyo's statement was cut off by a beeping coming from her wrist. Her eyes widened slightly when she heard it, and she raised the corresponding wrist to pull back her sleeve. A small watch was revealed, the small screen that usually said the time glowing orange. She let out a small, tense gasp, her expression showing alarm in the slightest manner. But it was readable. Jaden's eyes quickly widened briefly as he paused his game and looked back at Kameyo, his expression and tone serious. "What is it?" Levi and Ko also looked slightly alarmed at the girl's sudden action. Something was clearly wrong. Kameyo's eyebrows furrowed, and her eyes were wavering. "This says..." She looked up at all of them, her teeth gritted in her mouth slightly in order to complete her serious expression. For a moment, she paused, almost afraid to speak the next words. But somehow, she managed to say them. "...I have to use the restroom." WHAM! Both Brina and Tenshina promptly face-faulted hard onto the ground, all of the tension destroyed upon that statement. Immediately, Kameyo sprinted away in a comical manner. However, her words held a calm and almost deadpan in them. "Please hold my water for me when you get it, Kō-san, I will be back." With those words, she turned the corner and disappeared from sight, leaving behind the stunned Dragon female and her Dog subordinate lying on the ground. "WAH!!!" Jaden yelled out, falling over the sofa and landing on his face. As he picked himself up, steam was practically shooting out of his ears. "Man! I freakin' hate it when she does that crap!!" Ko's eyes widened in comical confusion once again, slowly turning around and waddling to the kitchen like a penguin. "Just keep walking....just keep walking...." Levi simply fell back onto the couch again, sighing. "She is so weird..." "I'm sorry, everyone..." Slowly, Brina raised her head up, a sheepish expression on her face as she rubbed the red mark that she had acquired due to the fall. "She doesn't do that on purpose. It's just a side effect of the condition she has, as well as the requirements necessary to get through it without any embarrassment..." "Yeah, well, that's the only thing keeping me from envying her..." Tenshina grumbled, not bothering to pick himself up from the floor. "It's fine, boss....everyone *ACHOO!!* excuse me, has their own problems." Levi said plainly. "Oh hey boss, I almost forgot, your boyfriend called. He said he misses you and he feels like he's slowly dying for every second he isn't next to you." Jaden said to Brina, not having any disrespect towards her, but one could tell there was a bit of humor in his voice. A pout was made of Brina's lips, and she rolled her eyes as she slowly stood up. "He's so overdramatic sometimes..." She muttered, folding her arms across her chest. She reached into her cloak to pull out her cell phone. "He's supposed to be a wolf, not a rabbit. Only rabbits die of loneliness. I'll just have to message him back, give him a heartfelt message of how I miss him, and say I'll be back with lots of X's and O's." "I want a pet rabbit..." Tenshina commented, rolling onto his back. "But aren't they animals that poop every five minutes, without any regard what they're using the restroom on? I mean, you have to clean up after your pet, but that's just way too much." "Rabbits are for losers, Ferrets are WAY better." Levi added, sniffling real quite like. "Na man, you want a badass pet? Get a freakin' Guinea Pig. Those things are the bomb." Jaden said, smirking as he did so. "Those fat, waddling fur balls?" Tenshina drawled, blinking owlishly. "If you want one of those, just get a cat to start hacking up hairballs. You'll have plenty of pets by then." "How is a hairball a pet?" Levi said in a jocular tone. Within the kitchen, Ko could hear the conversation between the three of them. So far, to her, it only proved just how weird boys were. She quickly filled two glasses up with tea, and a third glass with water. She first took the two tea glasses to their owners. She wouldn't be able to hold all three of them without spilling them everywhere after all. "Here you are, Lady Dragon-sama." Ko said to Brina politely, while also giving the other to Tenshina. "And here is yours sir..." she said to him, not knowing his actual name. At this point in time, Tenshina allowed himself to move himself to sit in an Indian-style position, one of his hands reaching out for the glass of green tea. With his other hand, he was scratching at his nose. "Well, most of these guys refer to me as Tenshina..." He commented, putting on a slight smirk. "But for short, you can call me God." After they both had their glasses, Ko's expression was somewhat confused, and a sweatdrop appeared on the back of her head. "Um.....Of course, er...God-San." she said, not meaning it in a disrespectful tone, but more of a naive one. Her sense of humor clearly wasn't in the same league as his. "Good. Glad we understa--" WHAM! Within an instant, he was smashed half-way through the ceiling, courtesy of the angry uppercut by Brina. "Stop tainting the recruits!!" She yelled, an anime vein popping on her face to go with her whited-out eyes. "Go be a "god" for the ceiling for the rest of your life!!" "When is that guy gonna learn?" Jaden commented. By this time, he had given control of the game to Levi and was reclined in his seat, folding his hands on the back of his head. Ko was somwhat taken aback by Brina's sudden use of force, but by this time she realized that such antics were routine around these parts. She gave the older woman a polite smile and looked at her with her eyes in an upside down U shape. "What else can I do for you, Lady Dragon-sama?" "Ah?" Brina looked down at her with a slightly curious look. However, it instantly reverted back to her own variant of the expression Ko gave her. She lowered her arm and unclenched her fist. "Oh, there's nothing else for the time being. Just sit back and relax, if you wish. Tomorrow, we'll be going on a little hunt for dinner." "Of course, milady...." With that, Ko walked over and sat in the floor a good ways from the sofa Jaden sat in in an indian style post. She closed her eyes and let out a low sigh, before inhaling and sitting quietly in a meditave like stance. Jaden looked over to her briefly in a little bit of curiosity, but quickly went back to normal. "Hey boss...." Levi started, sniffling slightly. "...I don't mean to make this sound bad or anything, but your boyfriend kind of scares me." WHUMPF! "That's not a big surprise..." Ignoring the thud that Tenshina produced when he pulled himself from the ceiling and landed on the ground again, Brina moved around the couch and sat herself on its arm, resting her arm on the back. "He is the ex-Black Wolf, the infamous terrorist of the Soul Society as well as some parts of the World of the Living. It's natural for people to be at least the tiniest bit afraid of him." She placed her fingers of one hand on her mouth, blushing a little. "Of course, I always found that to be a bit of a turn-on..." "The term "sadomasochist" comes to mind..." Tenshina muttered, scratching the back of his head as he slowly stood up. "Yeah I don't know what that means..." Levi replied plainly to Tenshina. "Wanted by the Soul Society and by at least six different human world countries. Yeah he's a badass, and your perfect match. No offense intended of course." Jaden said, sticking a toothpick in his mouth. Ko let her left eye partially open at the fact that Brina was dating a former(?) terrorist, but it quickly closed. "...seriously?" A light scowl came across Tenshina's face, one of his eyes twitching once again. "C'mon, that should be one of the most common terms in your dictionary right about now!" He complained, throwing his hand up in the air while keeping the other on his tea glass (which had somehow managed to remain intact with all of the tea). "It's a term for someone who enjoys both inflicting pain and recieving it. That's common knowledge, man..." "Well Excuuuuuuuuuuse me. Didn't know I was expected to be a literary prodigy like you are." the younger appearing boy stated, having paused the game and laid his head back down on the armrest behind him. "It's not a matter of being a prodigy! It's common knowledge! Don't try to make it out like I'm the only one who knows what it means!" "To the ones with the knowledge, it may seem like a natural thing..." Kameyo's voice could be heard coming from the corner of the door, and soon enough her figure stepped through as well. "But to the ones who are without it, it is something unusual. Please forgive Levi-san for being so lacking in terms of knowledge." "What she said." the boy replied, now turning over and resting on the couch with his front facing the back of the couch he was in. "...I do hope you realize she technically called you stupid..." Tenshina grumbled. "I know. I am stupid." he replied, holding up his hand and pointing his index finger down at himself. "Im not the smartest guy around here, but I'm smarter then Jaden over there...." "Oh whatever!" the other man replied, throwing a pillow over at Levi. "Just cause you're a few years older than me technically, doesn't mean you're all hot shit!" Ko remained silent. Listening and observing her potential future comrade's behaviors. It was safe to say that them getting along with her wasn't seeable in the near future. Her silence was not ignored - at least, by Brina. "Hm?" She looked over at Kō, her arms folded across her chest and a curious look in her eye. "What's wrong, Kō-chan? You don't have to feel shy, we really won't bite. Of course, there's the exception of the training that you'll be made to undergo after this mission, but that's about it." This caused Ko's eyes to widen slightly and she blushed in a little bit of shyness. "Oh...I'm sorry milady. It's been....rough for the past week or so. Now is the only time I've been able to sit and collect myself." She smiled a little bit. "Besides, I like to watch how people act without interfering. It lets me know what kind of people I'm going to be around for the next little while." "What do you think of me?" Levi said, sitting up slightly to look over at her. "Oh...." she said, looking up and fumbling her fingers around. "...Well....So far, I think you're all pretty funny and aloof around one another. It's almost like you're one big family." Kameyo closed her eyes. "If that were true, the closest thing that would relate would be a family of orphans... which is much more tragic." She stated coolly. Despite the casual tone she took with it, the morbidity of such a statement made Tenshina sweat-drop. "Yeah... glad we aren't orphans..." Ko's smile lowered to a slight frown. "Oh.....If that's the case, then I may fit in just fine." "Well!" Tenshina promptly let out a loud yawn, reaching up with his arms and stretching out before bending back and popping his back with an audible, light crack. "Well..." He drawled. "I donno about you all, but I think it's getting late. I'm gonna turn in for the night." Cracking his neck from side to side, he walked away. "Hope tomorrow's hunt goes well..." "Oh!" Brina snapped her fingers in realizing something, turning over to look at Kō. "That's right, I almost forgot to tell you. Since your appearance was so sudden and so close to the time of our mission execution... I think instead of just leaving you here on your own, you should come with us. It would give you a heads-up of what you'll expect from our little society. How about it, Kō-chan?" "Really?!" Ko said aloud, hopping up to her feet and looking at Brina with a bit of excitement and curiosity. "That would be great Lady Dragon-sama! What exactly is this mission, if I may ask?" "A hunting mission." Brina explained. "We'll be hunting for a Fullbringer named Isaac Slade. He's being a pest when it comes down to group operations, particularly transportation runs." She looked down and reached into her cloak, pulling out a photo and handing it to Kō. "One of our survivors managed to snap a picture of him just before they pulled out of the area." The girl gently took the picture and examined it, a slight hint of disturbance in her eyes as she looked at it. The man she spoke of wore a torn black robe with what appeared to be a black skeleton like armor piece on his upper body. The picture was of him slicing through a man's torso and blood shooting out in the direction of the weapon, a long black claymore of sorts. The expression on Isaac's face was what frightened her the most. He was grinning, ''as if he was reveling in the destruction that he was causing. "This....this man...." she began, handing the picture back to Brina and looking up to her. "He's...he can use Fullbring? Like me?" Brina gave a ready nod, readily taking the picture and slipping it back within her cloak. "A highly skilled Fullbringer, at that." "And you're not worried?" Ko asked, still looking at her with a bit of curiosity. "I mean, respectfully of course, you feel like an all powerful killer, but this Slade guy gives me a bad feeling. I'm not sure why." A chuckle escaped Brina's lips, and she hid her mouth behind her fingers in a vain attempt to stop herself. "Now, Kō-chan..." She spoke in a tone like a mother chiding a student. "Why would we have any reason to worry? Strong and skilled as he is, he is only one man. There's nothing that the men under my leadership have to fear as far as I'm concerned." Ko put on a low smile and her eyes closed happily. "Well I'm glad milady. I was worried because from the looks of him, it seems he has mastered his Fullbring's powers, based on his appearance. Any Fullbringer that has done that is surely a force to be reckoned with." "Master or not... he will be dealt with accordingly." Brina assured her. "Now, I suggest you get some rest. It's been a long day, and we'll have to get up early if we want plenty of time to start looking." "Yes ma'am." she said politely, at first turning around to walk towards the hallway, but she then stopped and turned her head to look back at Brina with a sheepish expression. "Um...is there a certain place that you would like for me to sleep milady?" "Kameyo?" The said girl perked her head up at the sound of Brina's voice, seeing the other woman's kind smile. "Would you be kind enough to show Kō-chan to her room?" "Of course, Dragon-sama..." With a respectful bow, Kameyo turned to Kō and nodded her head with a curt, quick motion. Then, she turned to walk away and into the other areas of the home. Ko then gave a single bow to Brina before turning and walking to follow Kameyo to her room. ''Maybe things won't be so bad after all.... When they both left from view, it was only Brina standing in the living room. Until.... Knock! Knock! Knock! A series of knocking noises went throughout the room from the door that led out into the main hallway outside of the room. Someone had come to visit apparently. Under normal circumstances, Brina would've been quick to call them away from the door. She hadn't called for any guests, and even if she did, she wouldn't have them come so late. But when she reached out with her senses, she could immediately tell that these weren't normal circumstances. Someone familiar had come to greet her, albeit she had no idea of how they found her out here. Still, it wasn't exactly an unwelcome visit... Her lips curled into a pout, and she placed a hand on her hips as she walked towards the door. She grasped the knob, slowly turning it and pulling the door back. "Howdy." The man at the door was a few inches taller than she was, with short blackish silver hair and bright silver eyes. He wore a black coat with a black shirt inside of it, both having a slight green interior, along with a pair of black pants and boots. His face was unmistakable, as was his voice. It was Rushifa.